By Dele Ogbodo
The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi on Wednesday stated that Nigeria loses N3 billion annually
from road traffic accidents, even as he said that 38 percent of all African road traffic deaths occur among pedestrians.
He also acknowledged that road traffic crashes causes decrease air quality owing to exhaust fumes, increases urban noise pollution, attendant health implications and sustained increase in its carbon foot print.
The Corps Marshal was quoted in a statement signed by the Corps Public Education Officer, Mr. Bisi Kazeem, during a presentation he delivered in Dakar, Senegal on Non-Motorized Transportation (NMT) at the General Assembly of the West African Road Safety Organization (WARSO).
According to him, half of the world’s road traffic deaths occur among Motorcyclists 23 percent Pedestrians 22 percent, Cyclists 5 percent, 31 percent of deaths among car occupants and the remaining 19 percent among unspecified road users.
The statement partly read: “As communities grew economically with provision of infrastructure, there was no corresponding growth in NMT infrastructure, promotion, law, policies and usage by the upper class.”
The statement partly read: “The Corps Marshal gave for the rate of deaths recorded among pedestrians and cyclists 84 percent of the roads in low-income and middle-income countries where pedestrians are present carry traffic at 40 km/h and above and have no footpaths, however, where the footpaths exist, there is the concern of encroachment, truncation, abuse/misuse by motorist and lack of protective features that totally segregate pedestrians and prevent its usage by other road users.
“That traffic congestion throw away about 3 percent of GDP of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries to which Nigeria belongs.”